crime

There’s something about crime stories we’re all drawn to. It’s the thrill we get when reading and can’t wait for the next page to see what happens. We’re nervous or anxious but are cuddled up on our couch with a hot chocolate completely safe.

Have you ever been involved with Neighborhood Watch? If not, ever wonder what they are all about? As part of our series on Reedley, we took a moment to speak with the Reedley PD about Neighborhood watch. We chatted with Cyndee Friesen, Police Liaison Officer.

“You’re late.”
“Yes, Dad, there was an accident on Highway 95 or I would have been here a while ago.”
“You should plan better instead of leaving me looking like I don’t know what time you’re coming. How hard can that be?”

Nine Black Dragons was a Chinese restaurant that resembled an old Charlie Chan movie, even to being smudged black and white. According to the gaudy paper placemat describing the Chinese zodiac, this was the Year of the Dog. The white plastic chopsticks, antiseptically wrapped tightly in thin paper marked “Made in Hong Kong” in smeared purple ink, were placed near and exactly parallel to its right edge.

“Barry, you okay?”
“Trisha, hi!” He spun his chair away from the screen to grin at his new boss.
“Any problems?” she asked.
“Just double-checking the figures on William Sanderson. That’s why I’m in the Department of Final Accounting, right?”

Jake Longley was a pro ball player but now owns a bar on the beach in Gulf Shores, Alabama. The work isn’t hard, in fact, it’s almost non-existent, thanks to his right-hand gal, Carla. Jake’s dad, Ray, is a private investigator. He lives a much more structured lifestyle, one that Jake wants no part of. On the other hand, a little surveillance job wouldn’t put him out, as long as that’s all it is.

After the tall dark-haired woman lifted the carry-on bag into the overhead compartment, the younger blonde in the aisle seat moved her knees so the tall lady could squeeze past to sit by the window. The seat between them was empty. Outside, the tarmac baked in the noonday sun.

“Biqam?” asked Mahboob Chaudri, holding the ceremonial Berber belt in his hands and gazing admiringly at its bold colors and long tassels and glittering bits of mirror. “How much?” The belt would be an extravagance at any price, but Chaudri had promised himself an extravagance this day, and, after hours of searching through the souks of Marrakesh, he wondered if this might not at last be it.

Silky Sutton squeezed the DVD player and a box of silverware into the trunk with the rest of his haul, then closed the lid, hurried around the car, and slid into the driver’s seat. He checked his watch. Six-forty p.m. and just starting to get dark. His informant had assured him no one was ever home at this house on Monday nights between six and eight. Perfect. Timing was the key to Silky’s success. Bing, bam, boom. In, out, and gone before anyone noticed a strange car in the neighborhood.

In 1934, Marine Corps Major General Smedley Butler testified as to the existence of a group of wealthy businessmen planning a coup d’état during the presidency of Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Pulp mystery author Gary Phillips uses this premise as a jumping-off point for an anthology of short stories by both veteran and rookie noir authors. Jeri Westerson, Paul Bishop, and Joe Gentile are among those who join him in creating tales of daring-do, evil villains, and femmes fatales.

This week in honor of Earth Day we are once again featuring only ebooks. Here we have reviews of two crime stories by Nancy Cole Silverman–they are also available as audio books. Details at the end of this post on how to enter to win an ebook copy of The Salvantionist.

Fame.
She’d always suspected it was a bad thing and now she was certain. And what was she famous for, nothing really. It was all a mistake. She just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time or the right time, depending on your point of view. How was she to know that a simple trip to the grocery store would lead to something like this? And she hadn’t wanted much at the store, just a little something for dinner since she didn’t eat that much anymore.

Dirk laughed from behind his clown makeup and pointed his gun at the vampire-costumed couple. “Your jewelry,” he said to woman. “Give it to me. And you–” he waved his gun at the man “–toss your wallet on the couch.”

Jed knew where the cameras were. As soon as the old man left the convenience store he was going in. He waited in his idling truck as the senior citizen jawed with the cashier; probably this geezer’s big social event for the week. At last he lumbered out, but then stopped outside the door and began scratching off lottery tickets with a coin. It looked like he had a stack of them. “Good Lord Almighty,” Jed muttered.

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